Apple promotes sneaker discounts for GOAT shoppers using Apple Pay

Apple is circulating an email promoting a sale at GOAT, a sneaker trading service, where people can get up to 30 percent off purchases from the "Get Fit" collection if they use Apple Pay.

The deal is valid only through the GOAT iPhone and iPad app, and runs through Jan. 17. Users can both buy and sell sneakers via GOAT.

One of the service's main draws is that it vets both sellers and their shoes, making it easier for collectors to find rare items. In recent years sneaker collecting has become a major market, even supporting dedicated retail stores.

Apple appears to have accelerated its use of partner promotions to get people using Apple Pay. Recently for instance it cooperated on free Instacart delivery, and a holiday promotion with companies like Bonobos, JCPenney, Macy's, and Warby Parker.

While hundreds and hundreds of U.S. banks now support Apple Pay, merchant support has lagged behind. Sometimes this is because of proprietary systems -- such as at Target and Walmart -- but often this is because of the costs involved in upgrading payment infrastructure.

You can download the example from the second link. The example setup is described as follows:

"Apple Pay on the web consists of both a client-side and server-side component. You request payment on the client, and validate yourself as a merchant on your web server. This node.js example shows you how to carry out both the payment request and the merchant validation.

Apple Pay requires a merchant identifier and two certificates - a *session* certificate and a *rewrap* certificate. The merchant identifier uniquely identifies you as an Apple Pay merchant. The *rewrap* certificate is used to encrypt your Apple Pay payments, and the *session* certificate is used to authenticate your website.

Create your Apple Pay merchant identifier at https://developer.apple.com, and register your web domain against it. Convert your session certificate and key to 'PEM' format, and place it in this example's 'Emporium/certificates' directory.

Apple Pay requires your site to be hosted over HTTPS. Generate your SSL certificate, and place the certificate and key in this example's 'Emporium/certificates' directory."